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Sanctification
Part 6 - John 21 Progressive Sanctification
This fall we’re talking about SANCTIFICATION = how God works to change you, a sinner, and make you more holy in your heart and in your actions.
Westminster Shorter Catechism 35: What is sanctification?
Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace,
whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,
and are enabled more and more to die unto sin,
and live unto righteousness.
[Review] 1) Sanctification is NOT license to live however you want.
2) Sanctification is not by the Law.
3) Sanctification is by the gracious power of the Holy Spirit.
4) But that doesn’t mean you do nothing because sanctification is also by faith.
5) So you are to believe that you are no longer under the enslaving power of sin but have the power of God in you to live for Jesus.
We’re going to read about something that happens after Jesus has been raised from the dead - a surprise meeting with the disciples.
Let’s read John 21:1-23
Can people really change?
[Jesus and Peter] Remember the night before Jesus is crucified he gets arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. And then Jesus is put on trial in the middle of the night. Peter followed all this but hid himself at the trial. But as Peter is watching the trial and warming himself by a fire someone recognized him and asked if he was one of Jesus’ disciples. Do you remember what Peter said?
Here on the beach what does Jesus ask Peter? Why did Jesus ask Peter the same question three times?
Peter knew that Jesus was thinking of the three times that Peter had denied him on the night of Jesus’ trial. Peter told Jesus three times that he loved Jesus. And, Jesus did know that Peter loved him.
Do you think Peter denying Jesus that night should have disqualified him from ministry? What does Jesus think?
Well Jesus forgives Peter and makes him one of his apostles and leaders in the church.
How does Peter go from someone who got scared and denied Jesus to someone who preached and taught about Jesus even to his death?
Sanctification. People really can change.
[Progressive Sanctification] But does this change happen in an instant? Compare WSC Q33, What is Justification? and WSC Q35: What is Sanctification? - what is the big difference between the first parts of the answers? And what does that mean?
“Justification is an ACT…” vs. “Sanctification is a WORK…”
So justification is a one time event, a declaration by God, declared and done. But, sanctification being a work of God means that sanctification is a process.
[Picture of Progress] What is the hardest sport or skill you’ve ever had to learn?
Think of someone learning how to snow ski or ice skate (such things seem so foreign to us in the swampland of Houston) - as you learn you are going to fall no matter how hard you try not to fall. But as time goes on you make progress - fewer falls. But, even the greatest expert skiers and Olympic ice skaters still fall hard. But they still get up. And, the more progress you make you actually see the need to keep getting better, keep growing, keep making progress.
Sanctification is like that. Some days you feel like you are loving God and loving other people faithfully the way Jesus wants you too. But other days you feel like it’s pretty mixed with good moments and terrible moments where you failed to love God and others the way you should. Some days it feels like you are the worst sinner ever.
As you grow and progress in your sanctification your sin will actually look bigger and bigger to you = you’ll realize how much of a monster of a sinner you are. BUT, when you see your sin as big you’ll see Jesus as even bigger. You’ll learn that Jesus actually loves you more than you thought he did. You’ll learn that Jesus’ grace is greater than you ever dreamed. You’ll see that the cross is so much bigger than you ever imagined.
[Picture of Organic Growth] Sanctification is also like a growing tree and the good fruit it produces. Have you ever heard of the fruit of the Spirit? What is the fruit of the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-23: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.”
The fruit of the Spirit are character qualities that the Holy Spirit is growing inside you! You are growing in all these fruit even if you don’t feel it happening.
[Picture of Marathon] Sanctification is also like a race. But do you think sanctification is like a sprint or a marathon?
It is a marathon you run your whole life! The only way you could lose the race is if you stopped running. BUT, you won’t stop running because Jesus is with you, holding your hand, directing you, picking you up. When you turn around the Holy Spirit will turn you back around the right way and push you and push you and even carry you when you feel like you can’t go on.
And what are you thinking about in a race?
You always have the finish line in mind.
What is the finish line?
Nothing in this life is the finish line, you’ll never say, I’ve arrived!
The finish line is death. Or Jesus coming back!
What is the prize you win at the end of the race?
Jesus and heaven.
You will stumble and fall in this marathon race of sanctification. And when that happens you will repent and return to Jesus and keep going. Sanctification is a life of repentance.
Peter jumping off that boat and swimming and running toward Jesus is a picture of Peter’s sanctification.
When Peter gets to the beach and there’s a charcoal fire it is a reminder of Peter’s betrayal by that fire on the night of Jesus’ trial. Jesus knows all this! Jesus is setting the stage for Peter’s repentance.
Progressive sanctification is a life of repentance. When we fail, we know we can run back to Jesus for forgiveness and for help. He is always there to forgive us and help us. You see that happen right here at the end!!!!!
[Peter and John] When Peter hears that following Jesus will lead to his death what does Peter say? Why does Peter ask Jesus about John?
It’s like Peter is saying, “Jesus, You told me that I will ultimately suffer and die for my testimony about you. What about John? Is the same thing going to happen to him, or will he be better off?” Peter is wondering if Jesus is being fair and so he’s doubting Jesus again in this moment!!!
Does sanctification mean we will never sin again?
NO!!!
[NOT Entire Sanctification = NOT Perfectionism] We don’t want to make the mistake of thinking we can be entirely sanctified in this life. In the 18th century John Wesley taught the necessity of a second work of grace, after conversion, in which a person achieves what he called “entire sanctification.”
In this state of entire sanctification, one has perfect love for God untainted by conscious sin. Where you get to the point of laying it all on the altar, you come forward for that altar call because you’ve had a second work of grace and now from this point on life with Jesus is just going to be great, you will hardly have any sin at all (maybe a few bad thoughts here and there but they’re fleeting) and everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the one before because you realize now Jesus is awesome.
This theory is not Biblical AND it does not work in practice. It leads to one of two possibilities:
1) The sensitive Christian will never be certain that he has achieved entire sanctification, for he will always be sensitive to his continued sinfulness. This will lead to discouragement in the Christian life and lack of assurance.
2) The pharisaic Christian will claim that he has achieved entire sanctification and will try to explain away and justify his sinfulness – “It wasn’t a conscious sin, or it was only a sinful thought but not a sinful action, or I’m not really guilty of sin because it was just my flesh that did it, not my heart.” That kind of “super-spirituality” breeds self-deception and hypocrisy.
God has freed us from our slavery to sin BUT you will still sin. BUT, even in our struggle with sin today God is at work sanctifying us little by little and making us look more and more like Jesus little by little. This work is a continual process where God is molding,
shaping, and changing us to be more willing and able to follow him. The wonderful thing about sanctification is that God cares so much about you that he makes this sanctification a daily work for you in your lives.